Nerdtacular - Blizzard Panel
Chris Metzen, Russell Brower, Randy Jordan, and Patrick Beja (formerly Blizzard EU PR) joined The Instance to talk about Blizzard and WoW. There isn't really any new information or news, but it is still a good listen for Blizzard fans.

Patch 6.2 - Darkmoon Faire
Be sure to pick up WHEE! from the Darkmoon Carousel or the buff from Darkmoon Top Hat before doing dungeons during this bonus weekend or your Tanaan Daily quests for extra reputation! Icy Veins has updated their guide for Patch 6.2.

There's something to be said for healthy skepticism. It helps you maintain a firm grounding in what your expectations are for something. It also leaves room for you to be pleasantly (hopefully) surprised. We'll do what we can to continue to share information, insights, relay feedback, and be here for you to share your thoughts with. That isn't changing.

As to Bashiok leaving, I know many will try to interject meaning into it, but sometimes, change is just change and nothing more.

You probably won't respond but are blues even privy to the info of the next expansion?
We are indeed. We just can't talk about it yet. All things in their time, my friend. All things in their time. I liken it to knowing what a friend has gotten another friend as a gift. Until the friend with the gift is ready to share the gift with the other friend, it's not my place to spill the beans. Otherwise, you ruin the joy of the gift giver. It's a simple analogy, but it holds up just the same. The developers work very hard to put together the content and systems that go into the game. It's my job to make sure that I share what they want me to share when they are ready for me to share it. No sooner than then.

Personally I can't believe anything any developer says about the next expansion. I can only wait to see what it will actually end up becoming after it's released.
That's OK to feel that way – perfectly valid and we'll be watching to see what you think.

Just one request, Neth, with regard to "relay feedback." Can you guys get a checklist or something to ensure that what gets relayed as feedback is accurate?
Feedback comes from multiple directions: what people say on the forums, what they say on fansites or in the media, what they say in game, and importantly what they DO in game. It all gets watched and reported on via multiple channels, we watch, customer service watches, the developers watch, etc. There are multiple reports that go out as well. One of which we ourselves do every week from every region (from the community management end). Plus, there are constant discussions via email and in person. So, no one "checklist" would ever convey the plethora of information and feedback that flows like a giant tidal pool –there are undercurrents of undercurrents that occur. We do what we can though to keep on top of it all. Keep in mind too, sometimes the answer is, "we agree" and sometimes it's "we disagree" due to design goals and whether agreeing fits or doesn't fit into that. In the end, we are also passionate and human about what it is we do.

Please inform Zahrym that I like the way the patch notes are presented in a somewhat verbose manner.
This is actually Rygarius that puts these together and has for awhile now. I'll let him and the developers (who have a hand in them) know you like them. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Blue Tweets

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

Character / Itemswhy did you guys make the black market representative at the Garrison not able to bid on items????
Madame Goya only accepts bids in person, as she (rightfully) distrusts everyone else. (WarcraftDevs)

PvPany update on Shaman Ashran book? Still bugged: speed drops to 130% and invisibility mostly doesn't work
Bug tracking for this is in our system. We don't have an ETA as of yet for when it'll be fixed. (WarcraftDevs)

again, agree. This particular racial seems to me to be superfluous outside of PvP and causes more problems IMO
Agree with both. Average player tends to play a race they like visually (see blood elves) but (1/2) (holinka)
casual players often look for answers from the high end on what's "right." They have some effect. (2/2) (holinka)
After listening, I could probably talk about it for an hour. Twitter is a bad place to discuss but... (holinka)
Disagree that racial is sole reason faction imbalance occurs. It's significant, but other factors at play too. (holinka)

WorldXhul'horac's Black Hole seems to violently toss players away if they are at or very near the spawn point once it spawns. Bug?
This is intended. Physics is scary! (WarcraftDevs)

Ghostcrawler Tweets
While the developers have been pretty quiet since @WarcraftDevs appeared, Ghostcrawler still occasionally talks about WoW. Remember that he no longer works for or speaks for Blizzard.

Originally Posted by MMO-Champion

PvPyou can tell riot employees play and care but blizzard doesn't pvp. Do you think that's why WoW pvp is so bad?
When I was there, a lot of people did PvP. I assume they still do. (OccupyGStreet)

LoreYou weren't a lore dev, but you followed the story enough. What's been your favorite storyline?
Wrathgate maybe? I liked that Arthas didn't just come kick ass. Played against expectations. (OccupyGStreet)

You've said that you liked night elves when they were fierce. Could you explain what changed your mind? Was it the Alliance?
Feel like we shifted them to more traditional fantasy elves than the fresh take on them in War 3. Not sure it was conscious. (OccupyGStreet)define traditional. At least compared with high/blood elves. Darnassus a factor or focusing more on priests vs. sentinels?
I just felt like we allowed WoW NEs to be too much like LOTR or D&D elves. The War3 NEs felt pretty different and new IMO. (OccupyGStreet)

what about the lore behind battlegrounds and capturing objectives in world pvp? Vanilla and BC for examples.
I think BGs get the closest, especially AV, but of course your victories really don't change the world so they can feel hollow. (OccupyGStreet)

you've said that you're a fan of wow's faction conflict. What do you think about those who believe it only exists for pvp?
I found PvP frequently expresses it the least. One shotting a gnome in Arena doesn't feel like the Second War yanno? (OccupyGStreet)do you feel that there can be a balance between 2nd war style conflict and WC3 fighting a larger evil? Should one be focused?
It's really hard in an MMO to have one faction "win" even for a short time. Would be cool though. MMOs often go to a 3rd threat. (OccupyGStreet)
I'd love to develop an MMO where the world actually changes, dramatically and regularly. (OccupyGStreet)

UI / AddonsAm I the only one thinking WoW's UI is a disgrace, with addons a cumbersome, player-unfriendly crutch ? What Would Apple Do ?
Just different schools of thought. People like to customize their UI. Even Apple lets you change a little, like the wallpaper. (OccupyGStreet)

Game DesignI read something pretty insightful on the wow forums. It is possible: http://t.co/d9p26uZq3k
There are also a lot of devs on WoW who have been there forever. That claim of no institutional memory rings hollow to me. (OccupyGStreet)institutional memory? Can you elaborate on what you mean by that? You didn't start on wow from the start but for a length
You learn early in this business to be able to kill your babies. It's game design 101. (OccupyGStreet)
The claim was that new devs hadn't learned anything from experienced devs. No" institutional memory" or "tribal knowledge." (OccupyGStreet)
If you take a franchise to a brand new team, they may not know what mistakes to avoid or even what feels satisfying. (OccupyGStreet)
As one example, an artist might have to practice making models for months before they really get the style. (OccupyGStreet)

MiscHey GC, did you get a freebie pass to Riot or did you put in an application like us regular chums? Just curious. Thanks!
I didn't have to submit an application through the website but I had many interviews. It was so not a free pass. (OccupyGStreet)

Assuming you don't spend the remainder of your career at Riot, are there any genres of games you haven't but want to work on?
I want to do a tactical RPG with excellent combat. (OccupyGStreet)

Final Boss - Method Interview
Final Boss recently interviewed Method about their World First kill. Manaflask talked to Method recently as well!

Bashiok Leaves Blizzard
We're sorry to see Bashiok leave and wish him the best in the future!

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

I could pretty easily write a few thousand words right now, but I did my best to keep this brief.

I began working at Blizzard way back in October of 2003, and every day of my experience here has been shared with you, the players, and content creators, artists, bloggers, AddOn authors, podcasters, streamers, forum trolls, and— man, anyone remember the old Off-Topic forum back in the day? That place was just absolutely cuckoo bananas.

Anyway, Blizzard—and the community that surrounds it—has defined almost my entire adult life, and I am just so absolutely grateful to all of my friends here for having such an incredible and positive impact on who I am, and who I am yet to become. I don’t think I’ve had to make any decisions as difficult as the one to leave Blizzard, but a new opportunity has come my way, and I’ve decided to take it.

While I think it’s all still sinking in, the other day I realized I actually get to be surprised by Blizzard announcements and releases again. Which, as a lifelong fan and rabid gamer it makes me giddy thinking about being able to sit in the audience at BlizzCon, watching a stream, or reading the newest blog posts, and seeing whatever’s in store next—for the first time.

I’m looking forward to what’s next, and wishing you a life of joy, insatiable curiosity, and happy gaming.

Definitely thankful,
Bashiok

FinalBoss - Method Interview on Saturday
FinalBoss interviewed Method about their World First kill on Saturday at 2 PM EDT / 8 PM CEST. Manaflask talked to Method as well!

Get Ready for Gamescom 2015!
It looks like the next expansion may not be demoed at Gamescom, as the listing below only talks about playing Warlords.

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Blizzard’s gearing up for another epic gamescom this year! From August 5-9, we’ll be providing plenty of entertainment at our biggest booth to date in Hall 7 of the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany.

The highlight of the show will happen on the Blizzard stage on Thursday, August 6 at 9:00 a.m. PDT, when we unveil the next expansion for World of Warcraft! Catch it in person or via live stream at www.blizzgc.com.

We’ll have four packed days of activities around all of our games. You can experience everything from competitive gameplay to developer signing sessions, from our famous costume and dance contests to live music—including a special performance from Video Games Live! There are prizes to be won in live quizzes each day, as well as our costume and dance contests. Want to show off your moves? Sign up at the booth! Be sure to check out the below tabs for all the game-specific activities, and visit the website for a full stage schedule.

Of course you’ll also get hands-on play time with our games. Hearthstone will be available on PC and tablet, including some new cards from the upcoming expansion, The Grand Tournament. You can battle it out in Heroes of the Storm, and try out Overwatch for the first time in Europe. Experience StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void and its new co-operative mode, Allied Commanders, and fight the formidable Iron Horde in World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor.

You’ll also have loads of photos opportunities at our booth, including statues and weapon props used in the upcoming Warcraft movie! Share your Blizzard at gamescom experience on social media using the #BlizzGC2015 hashtag, and your post may appear on our dedicated site.

To pick up a souvenir, including some exclusive items, stop by the Blizzard shop in Hall 5. Stay tuned for more details on the shop in the coming days.

And if you can’t be at gamescom in person, be sure to watch our live-streamed show each evening for exclusive content, developer interviews, and more. Tune in to www.blizzgc.com at 18:00 CEST Thursday-Saturday, and at 17:00 CEST on Sunday.

Warcraft

Fight against the formidable Iron Horde in World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor

See top guilds battling it out in live raids and racing through Challenge Mode dungeons

Show us your moves in the World of Warcraft dance contest

Representing the World of Warcraft development team: Executive Producer J. Allen Brack, Game Director Tom Chilton, Creative Director Alex Afrasiabi, and Lead Game Designer Ion Hazzikostas

See the next expansion unveiled on Thursday, August 6 at 18:00 CEST

Watch the live-streamed show on Sunday, August 9 at 17:00 CEST, featuring exclusive World of Warcraft content and developer interviews

StarCraft

Try out StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void, with the new co-operative mode, Allied Commanders, playable for the first time

See pro players display their skills in show matches

Representing the StarCraft II development team: Senior Game Designer David Kim and Lead Game Producer Tim Morten

Watch the live-streamed show on Saturday, August 8 at 18:00 CEST, featuring exclusive Legacy of the Void content and developer interviews

Diablo

Lead Character Artist Paul Warzecha will bring the world of Sanctuary to life with live 3D modelling exhibitions on our main stage

Hearthstone

Play Hearthstone on PC and tablet, including some new cards from the upcoming expansion, The Grand Tournament

See some of your favorite Hearthstone personalities, including Kripparrian, sling cards in show matches at our booth

Watch the live-streamed show on Saturday, August 8 at 18:00 CEST, featuring exclusive Overwatch content and developer interviews

Patch 6.2 Hotfixes - July 29

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Achievements

Naval Mechanics: The achievement no longer requires players to obtain equipment blueprints that are not obtainable. Fixed an additional issue where players were not receiving credit for obtaining a blueprint for Blast Furnace.

Blue Posts

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

New Expansion and Communication
Seriously, even though there are people frustrated with aspects of Warlords, or simply just a little worn out from spending so many years playing this game, I hope your curiosity about what we've got cooking is still there. It should be a fun event next week. I trust that many people in this community can check any baggage they might have at the door and earnestly step into the announcement with us.

It's not just about building hype either. We want to share what lies ahead and get some new conversations going.

I can say no more!

Is that not hype? lol
I mean, that's the thing. Hype is innately a part of announcing a thing. I've just seen a lot of people talk about our "hype machine" in a highly cynical fashion lately. I know it's because we've announced some things and then changed our plans or cut them further along in development.

I'll just say that we're sensitive to that. Our intent is never to share big ideas or plans purely for the purposes of generating additional hype. All that's going to do is breed frustration and mistrust down the road. None of us chose careers in snake oil sales.

And then, when people don't like what lies ahead and start talking about it, locking those new coversations!
I don't know if that's an honest comment or more of a jab. But either way, I've been moderating and posting in blue on Blizzard forums for 9 years now, and never has there been a time where we've tried to completely stamp out honest conversations of opinions about the game or speculation of what's to come -- at least not simply on the merit that the opinions being expressed on a given topic are largely negative.

Anyone who reads this and wonders why specific threads they were involved in were deleted in the past, the answer is almost definitely in our forum posting guidelines and Code of Conduct. Nowhere in those guidelines, however, does it say that you aren't allowed to share a negative opinion of the game. For real!

Zar says easily misconstrued things far to often and when someone calls him out on his often dismissive and arrogant tone he just stops responding or says he was misunderstood. The fact that (as he'll often tell you) he's been a blue for 9 years means he should know to chose what words he uses veeerryy carefully. For that reason, I'm inclined to take everything he says at face value.
I choose my words carefully. But I'm also not going to be a perfectly polished PR robot when I'm sharing in conversation on the forums. I don't think a lot of people would appreciate it if I was either.

I don't have a problem with you taking what I say at face value. That's fair. I don't know that your summation of my communication style is very fair though. I'm vastly outnumbered on this forum and my words are in bright blue to attract everyone. And there are scores of people who will take every possible angle to pick at what I'm saying. And I know that that's going to happen before I hit the "Submit" button, but I'm not going to let that completely tongue tie me when I want to talk to people.

I'm not asking for sympathy. It's part of the job, I know. The job also requires a lot of empathy and a lot of rallying on behalf of players when discussing feedback internally. Hopefully, even if my manner of posting rubs you the wrong way, you can at least understand that we're not meant to be at odds with one another. We want a fun video game that brings people together with joy, regardless of how complicated that can be for a game and community of this magnitude.

My main issue with the blue posting is that they often never respond to well thought out threads regarding actual game suggestions, and threads that are actually addressing valid concerns with the game.
We may not respond to many, but we certainly read them, note them down, and relay the feedback directly to developers. We've said it before; there are times where we just can't comment, or we're privy to information about upcoming changes that we've been asked not to address (we don't want to spoil all the surprises). It's part of the process and part of our job. But that doesn't mean we don't care or aren't reading your feedback. Sure, we could jump into a suggestion or feedback thread and merely post, "Thank you!", but that's often seen as antagonistic to some, and not nearly enough for others.

By all means, please keep posting suggestions and feedback. We do appreciate it, and we'll continue to relay it to the developers.

It makes it very hard for me to get hyped for next expansion when devs in interviews don't focally acknowledge how bad certain things are right now. "We learned some lessons" does not give me hope for a better future, because we've heard that line a thousand times over.
I do understand your point and don't want to distract from it, but also that statement is 100% true every time we use it. We always learn a lot from the design decisions we make, and how they play out in both a test and live environment, that we can carry forward. And that's a good thing.

There's a vast amount of game design knowledge and expertise on the team, but like virtually any other job you still learn as you go and do your best to positively apply that extra knowledge in your latest work.

You may not be able to get say much, but a small little pop in saying you at least saw and are relaying the topics would be HUGE. When people see no responces even though we may believe you guys are listening it starts to look otherwise. The players are just as passionate of the game as you guys are and simple small acknowledgements would go a long way to have people at least know you saw the post. Especialy with the big hot topics. I really feel sorry for the pvp'ers. those poor buggers don't get any info at all.and every suggestion seems to be countered with another terrible idea.
I won't say that's a bad idea and I don't mean to come off as stubborn here. In principle I agree with you and we've done those types of acknowledging responses in the past. Sometimes, though, the acknowledgement creates a separate issue unto itself from the "we're being ignored" perception, in that people sometimes take the acknowledgement as an indication of action on our part. At first it's a pretty innocent, positive thing to show acknowledgement. But, depending on what the feedback is about, some people will ask why we haven't done anything about it 24 hours later, a week later, a month later, what have you.

It creates an almost cyclical pattern where people still feel ignored if we let the acknowledgement sit alone and linger without more input from us, except it can create even more tension 'cause we're viewed as blatantly disregarding something we previously acknowledged. Now suddenly we're viewed as willfully or stubbornly ignoring a topic we've clearly seen. The act of acknowledging is just another empty gesture at that point.

Again, I'm not saying it's never a good idea. It usually depends on the circumstances. But those are just things we have to think about and weigh before tagging something in blue. As I said earlier in the thread, the blue tends to bring a lot more attention to a topic. If we throw acknowledgements around without more meaningful input to provide as a follow-up, or without some type of clear design reaction, after a while it's going to come across as insincere, and synonymous with ignoring the issue anyway.

The field of Communications can be pretty complicated, even when you want to keep things as simple, transparent, and honest as possible. No matter what type of community is formed around something, especially online, people will dissect everything that's said, pick statements apart, reinterpret words, band together over common beliefs/opinions, drift toward whatever popular theories are going around, etc. And I don't mean any of this in a cynical or condescending way. It's just sort of how we're wired, and the internet adds a whole other element to social behavior in a community. If that makes sense...Which leads me to this question: do you guys ever post on normal accounts? Participate in a discussion posing as another player, so as to mitigate the influence and impact the blue text has?
No. It feels too shady. I chat with folks on my characters in the game like anyone else, but it just feels different on the forums. When we're not posting as actively on the forums we're often looking at things on a more macro scale -- including using some Community Management System tools behind the scenes for data analysis -- figuring out what are the common points of feedback and such, so for me it'd feel too much like meddling to jump in "anonymously." (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Blue Tweets

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

Garrisonswhen a ship is destroyed, can u add what kind of ship was destroyed in the chat log so we know what to rebuild (cont) ...
Great suggestion! It will show up in a future update. (WarcraftDevs)

MiscIon Hazzikostas. Just watching your Q&A where you said Imperitor means emperor in Latin. awks.. its a military rank.
True, my Latin teacher would be disappointed. At least some emperors did use the title and it's the root of the English word. (WatcherDev)

Heroes of the Storm – Mecha Tassadar Promo Video
Blizzard released a nice promo video for the Mecha Tassadar skin that is on sale this week.

Patch 6.2 - Fury of Hellfire Wallpapers Available
Blizzard shared the Patch 6.2 wallpapers! See the full post to get all of the sizes.

New World of Warcraft Expansion Unveiling at Gamescom 2015 – Live Stream August 6

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Join us Thursday, August 6 at 9 a.m. PDT for a special World of Warcraft event streamed live from gamescom 2015 in Cologne, Germany—where we’ll be unveiling the next chapter of the World of Warcraft saga. . . .

Tune in again Sunday, August 9 at 8:00 a.m. PDT for a World of Warcraft developer chat before the show ends, and find out more about what’s in store.

Stay tuned to our dedicated gamescom page for further details on the live stream. Those who are able to join us in person at gamescom can visit us at the Blizzard booth in hall 7.1. We hope to see you there!